BACKGROUND

Emicizumab is the latest treatment for patients with hemophilia A. Its safety in real-world data is limited, and regulatory agencies and clinical researchers have raised concerns about the risk of adverse events.

AIM

This study aimed to detect potential adverse event signals of emicizumab using the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database.

METHOD

Data in FAERS from the fourth quarter of 2017 to the second quarter of 2021 were searched. Cases of adverse events were extracted using the Preferred Term in the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (version 24.0). Disproportionality analysis was performed using the reporting odds ratio (ROR) and information component (IC) methods based on statistical shrinkage transformation.

RESULTS

A total of 5,598,717 patients were included, of which 1,244 took emicizumab. A total of 703 emicizumab-related adverse event signals were mined, and 101 positive signals were detected. Haemarthrosis (ROR/ROR/ROR = 155.62/184.34/131.38, IC/IC/IC = 7.28/7.48/7.01), haemorrhage (ROR/ROR/ROR = 71.01/81.18/62.12, IC/IC/IC = 6.15/6.31/5.94), muscle haemorrhage (ROR/ROR/ROR = 53.38/75.83/37.58, IC/IC/IC = 5.74/6.16/5.15), traumatic haemorrhage (ROR/ROR/ROR = 27.78/46.29/16.67, IC/IC/IC = 4.80/5.40/3.92), haematoma (ROR/ROR/ROR = 18.15/26.35/12.51, IC/IC/IC = 4.18/4.63/3.55), device-related thrombosis (ROR/ROR/ROR = 21.27/37.57/12.04, IC/IC/IC = 4.41/5.08/3.43), and activated partial thromboplastin time prolonged (ROR/ROR/ROR = 20.68/36.51/11.71, IC/IC/IC = 4.37/5.04/3.39) had the strongest signal intensities. Haemorrhage, haemarthrosis, arthralgia, fall, and injection site pain were reported more frequently.

CONCLUSION

This study found that mild arthralgia and injection site reaction were associated with emicizumab. Attention should also be paid to other serious adverse events related to emicizumab, such as acute myocardial infarction and sepsis, to ensure patient safety.